Tuesday, August 12, 2003

Dr. Campbell, an internist, first suspected trouble in Redding
Medical Center's cardiology program soon after joining the hospital in
1993, according to papers obtained by federal investigators. That
year, one of his patients underwent open-heart surgery even after the
surgeon told Dr. Campbell the procedure was unnecessary. Two years
later, another patient received a coronary bypass, though the
cardiologist's report said it was not necessary.

Then there were the numbers -- tens of thousands of diagnostic
tests, thousands of surgical coronary procedures. The totals seemed
more likely for a major university medical center than for a hospital
in a rural community of about 90,000 people.

Dismayed, Dr. Campbell brought his concerns to Stephen E. Corbeil,
the hospital's chief executive at the time. Though Dr. Campbell
declined to comment on the meeting and Mr. Corbeil did not return
telephone calls, the papers obtained by federal investigators indicate
that the administrator's response was succinct: The young internist,
he said, should mind his own business.

Ultimately, Dr. Campbell's concern proved to be everyone's
business. Last week, the hospital's owner, Tenet Healthcare, agreed to
pay $54 million to the government to resolve accusations that Redding
Medical doctors conducted unnecessary heart procedures and operations
on hundreds of healthy patients. Tenet did not admit any wrongdoing
and agreed to cooperate with further investigations.

Note that they denied any wrongdoing. Surely, pace the
arguments here,
this is a sign that the government has nothing, absolutely nothing,
and knows it. Another sad case of government regulation run amok.